Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan set off for Taiwan

A pair of giant pandas offered by the mainland to Taiwan in 2005 are finally on their way to the island. The pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, left the Chinese Giant Panda Research and Protection Center in Ya'an County, Sichuan province at 8:20 am local time.

The pandas have been living in the center since their former home in Wolong was severely damaged by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake.

The pair traveled by truck to the provincial capital of Chengdu, 120 km away and finally boarded an EVA Air flight to Taiwan in the afternoon. The flight will take 3 hours.

A brief ceremony was held in Yan'an before they left.

“The pandas take 1.3 billion of mainland people's blessing to Taiwan and will sow the seeds of peace, unity and fraternal love there,” Zheng Lizhong, deputy chief of the Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted by Reuters as saying during the farewell ceremony.

More than 500 armed guards and security guards were on hand at the airport when they arrived and their departure was telecast live by state television, AP reported.

Staff members accompanying the pandas have brought along a week's food for the pandas, such as steamed corn buns and fresh bamboo, Xinhua said.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan are expected to meet the residents of Taiwan in their new home during the Spring Festival, if they adapt well to the environment. They will have to undergo a one-month quarantine period.

The panda pair, whose names together mean “reunion,” was first offered by the mainland to Taiwan as a goodwill gesture in May 2005.